It’s hard to do anything these days without running into some form of Artificial Intelligence. AI, it seems, is nearly everywhere. Just as widespread are worries about this rapidly improving technology. The ability of the various AI programs to create synthetic forms of reality is taking us into a new world. Quite literally, how are we going to know what is real?

Let me offer a simple answer. The one true reality that we can always trust is being outside in the natural world. When we focus our senses on the natural world, we perceive a world functioning beyond the range of misinformation and “computer hallucinations.” All that separates our minds from the natural world is how we choose to interact with that world. There need be no other filters.

I bring this up because our own Malheur National Wildlife Refuge provides an unsurpassed setting for experiencing unfiltered nature. The Japanese use the phrase “forest bathing” to describe going out into nature to calm our minds and re-ground ourselves. Even if Malheur is a bit short on forests, our refuge can provide us with exactly the same type of experiences. The quiet time we spend absorbing Malheur’s wildlife and landscapes bring us benefits that go far beyond the moment.

Subconsciously, most of us have understood this for years. We know that time spent quietly in nature makes us feel better. We relax; we regain our ability to focus our minds; we learn things. But I propose that the wave of Artificial Intelligence that is sweeping over our culture puts all this in a new context.

Many of us are old enough to have grown up in a world where we could trust nearly all of what we saw. Still photographs, sound recordings, and motion picture images were what they appeared to be. Now, that’s simply not reliably true.

So, I propose that now and then we all need to go outside and immerse ourselves in genuine reality. Watch birds; garden; sit in the sun; take a walk in a quiet place; visit Malheur. In short, trust your own senses and reconnect with unfiltered reality.

Just make sure your phone is turned off.

– W. Tweed